I'll Just Go Ahead And Say It

Like any time in a game when things are looking good, I try not to jinx it by praising my boys, but knowing that I expect things to take a turn for the worse, I can only be pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong. So that being said, holy fuck look at my Kings!

Right now they're a division leading 8-4 and 16 pts, leading last year's pre-playoff favorites San Jose (15 pts.), '06-'07 cup winning Anaheim (7 pts. - suck it!), typically solid Dallas (14 pts.), and the bizarrely resurgent Phoenix (12 pts.). The only other team in their conference doing better than them is Colorado (18 pts, another team expected to suck this year and so far defying expectations). And that's third overall in the league if you include last year's champion Pittsburgh (also 18 pts).

Sure, there's 70 more games to play through early-April, but this is a great start to the season that may signify the resurgence fan's have been waiting for over nearly a decade of rebuilding. While pegged to not be a playoff threat, over the last few weeks, they have slowly clawed their way up from the lower rankings and even impressed the pro sportswriters. And to enjoy the position further, Anze Kopitar is leading the league in goals (10) and points (21) - yes, that in 12 games to last year's leader Alexander Ovechkin's 17 in 10 games. Here's a diagram by Battle of Cali of one of his sweet moves from last Thursday's home game vs. Dallas:

Step 1: Receive puck from teammate and notice that you're surrounded by 4 opposing players


Step 2: Take the puck wide while entering the zone and increasing your speed


Step 3: Swing the puck from the inside to the outside in one continuous motion while cutting to towards the net. Oh, and maintain your speed the entire time. Oh, and also lean in to shield the puck from the defender. Oh, and get ready to do this...


Step 4: Cut to the inside with the puck and fake a shot to keep the goaltender anchored to the inside post. Fight off the simultaneous hooks to your torso and hands and cut across the crease.


Step 5: Cut across the length of the crease past the outstretched pad of the goaltender and deposit the puck into the net. And remember, you're getting hooked this whole time so you should hold tightly onto your stick.


Step 6: Celebrate with your teammates. Congratulations! You have just scored a goal.

And that was the first of three that night. Watching it at speed is even prettier. I was relieved to chuck that grimy, old Kings hat on the ice and now get to drag a new one around. Kopitar's on pace for 143 points, even though it would be overzealous to expect this kind of point production all year. Last year's point champ, Evgeni Malkin? 113 points on 35 and 78 assists. To put Kopitar's numbers in perspective, that's 72 points less than Wayne Gretzky had in his best season. If Wayne were on our team at that pace he'd have 29 points right now. Jesus Christ, Wayne Gretzky was good.

And it's not just Kopitar with an excellent start. Linemate Ryan Smyth has 6 goals and 9 assists, Dustin Brown has 4 goals / 8 assists, defenseman Drew Doughty has 2 goals / 9 assists, Alexander Frolov has 3 goals / 8 assists, Jared Stoll 3 goals / 7 assists, and even Justin Williams has 3 goals and 6 assists with a third less games being played. It's not baseball where it's all stats, but high point totals do pan out as checks in the W column.

Even though there have been some gaps where too many goals are being given up, fortunately those games are outnumbered by even higher scoring play by the Kings. And even if they are questioning the grit and aggressiveness of our plays (as pictured at top), the Kings are playing like a team that is fighting for a playoff position, not a beginning of the season burst. Though you can ask Jenson Button and he'll tell you that a great start goes a long way, and I hope that they keep up the pace. I welcome the extra cost of post-season tickets, but let's also enjoy it while it lasts!